Ice rink construction



061:. 8, 1940. VETTER 2,217,083

ICE RINK CONSTRUCTION Filed May 6, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l I JE Z-zMA/V 17577-52,

ct. 1940. H, T 2,217,083

ICE RINK cbNsTRucTIoN Filed May 6, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 8, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENTo Fics 2,217,083 ICE RINK coNsTaUcTIoN Herman Vetter, Los Angeles, Calif. Application May 6, 1939, Serial No. 272,177

7 Claims.

This invention relates generally to ice skating rinks, particularly the type of rinks employing a metal floor upon which the body of ice is supported.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved ice skating rink floor construction embodying a metal floor for supporting the ice which may be easily and quickly assembled or disassembled.

It is also an object of this invention to provide new and improved means for supporting the floor and for anchoring the floor. In this connectionit is a-particular object of the invention to provide adjustable means for anchoring or tying down thefloor to the foundation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide adjustable means for supporting an ice skating rink floor so that the floor may be readily leveled during construction and subsequent to construction in the event that the foundation settles.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an ice skating rink floor construction wherein a plurality of floor sheets are connected together to form a composite floor and wherein means are provided for heat transference between the floor and the cooling brine at the points of juncture of the plates. r

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawings and the following description thereof. Referring to the drawings which are for illustrative purposes only:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view broken away in two planes of the ice skating floor and supporting means of this invention. The View is to some extent diagrammatical;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of the floor of Fig. 1 on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken in the plane of line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken in the plane of line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of adjustable supporting means for the floor and a sectional elevation of a portion of the floor;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevation on line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary sectional elevation showing the manner of supporting the end of a floor supporting beam; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of base member.

More particularly describing the invention, reference numeral I I generally indicates an ice ska-ting rink floor. The floor is comprised generally of the floor sections I2 which are supported on a plurality of foundation walls I3. Each floor section I2 is comprised of a top floor sheet I4 which supports the ice and a corrugated undersheet I5. The sheet I5 is attached to the floor sheet I4 by means of spot welds I6 located at frequent intervals and by means of welding I! at the sides of the sheet I5. In this connection each side of each sheet I4 is turned down to form flanges I8. The side edges of the sheets I5 are attached to the respective flanges I8 below and spaced from the main portion of the sheet I4. With this construction maximum heat transference is obtained in the region of the joints of the floor sections I2 by reason of the fact that refrigerant passages I9 are formed in the region of the joints. The two sheetsM and I5 of each section I2 cooperate to form refrigerant passages I9 in addition to the side passages I 9 just described.

At their ends the corrugated sheets terminate in headers 20 as shown in Fig. 1. Any means may be used for providing a fluid tight joint between the headers and the floor sheets. Each header is provided with a refrigerant circulation pipe 2I which may lead to a source of refrigerant and any means may be used for circulating refrigerant through the passages I9--I 9. r

The sections I2 are secured in abutting relation by means of spaced bolt and nut assemblies one of which is shown in Fig. 1 and indicated generally by reference numeral 22. As many of such assemblies may be used as is deemed necessary to secure the members together.

The foundation walls I3 are adapted to support the floor. They are provided with a cap portion 23 upon which is positioned a strip of sound deadening material such as the felt strip Referring to those figures, it can be seen that in the region of each joint of adjacent sections I2 the piers are provided with transverse recesses 25 so as to accommodate the transversely extending and depending flanges I8- of the adjoining floor sections. In the region of each pier the depending flanges IB of adjacent floor sections are apertured at 26 to accommodate a bolt 21. A nut 28 is provided on the bolt for securely attaching the bolt to the flanges I8 and for holding the flanges in abutting tight relationship. 7 The bolt 21 is also adapted to accommodate what will be termed a tie-rod 30 which is provided with a hook 3! at its upper end extending over and partially around the bolt'2'l. At its lower end the tierod 30 is threaded to accommodate a nut 32 and is adapted to extend through an aperture 33 in an angle base plate 34 which is secured to the foundation wall I3 in any suitable manner. One means of securing it has been shown in Fig, 2 wherein bolt members 35 are shown embedded in the conof the wall and respectively through holes 36 in the base plate 34. Nuts 31 serve to secure the plate.

In Fig. 4 there is shown a fragmentary sectional view of the means for tying down or anchoring the sides of the outer sections I2. This construction differs from the construction just described and shown in Figs. 2 and 3 principally in the fact that the bolt 21 extends only through one flange member l8 and the foundation wall I3 is provided with a reduced portion 25' instead of the transverse recess 25 heretofore described.

In Figs. 5 to 7 there is shown another means of supporting the floor. This form of supporting means is particularly designed to facilitate leveling of the floor during construction and also subsequent to construction in the event that any portion of the ground on which the rink is built settles. In this form of the invention the floor sections l2 are the same as previously described and they are adapted to be, supported on a felt strip 24. The felt strip in this case, however, rests upon beams or metal girders 40. The members 40 extend in the same direction with relation to the I floor sections l 2 as the foundation walls [3 shown in Fig. 1. Members 4|] are spaced apart in the region of each joint of the members I2 and are supported upon an adjustable supporting member generally indicated by reference numeral 42.

The adjustable supporting member 42 comprises a base 43 which may be attached to a concrete pier or wall 44 by means of the bolts 45 and nuts 46. The base 43 is provided with a vertically extending bore 48 which is adapted to receive a rod 49 which is threaded at its lower end at 50 and is provided with an adjustment nut 5|. By means of the adjustment nut 5| the height of the rod 49 may be varied. At the upper end of the rod 49 there is mounted a plate 53 by means of welding 54. This plate is provided with the side flanges 55 (although these are not essential) and with apertures 5B and 51. The apertures 56, 51 are adapted to receive bolts so that the members 40 may 'be bolted to the plate 53 by means of the bolt assembly 5B. The plate is also provided with an outwardly extending apertured lug which is adapted to accommodate the tie-rod 3B. The tie-rod 30 is the same as the tie-rod shown and described in connection with Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings.

In Fig. '7 there is shown the manner of using a member 42 for supporting the end of a beam 40. When so used the member 42 is placed farther under the beam and the tie-rod 30 is attached in the region of aperture 57.

In place of the base 43 of the assembly 42 a modified form of base may be used such as is shown in Fig. 8. This comprises a sheet of metal 62 which is adapted to be embedded in concrete or the like up to approximately the broken lines 63. This plate 62 is bent so as to form toe portions 64, leg portions 65 and a top portion 66, The top portion is apertured to accommodate the rod 49 which in this case is provided with a pair of adjustment nuts 61 and 68.

Although the invention has been particularly shown and described it is contemplated that various changes might be made without departing from the scope of the invention and it is intended to cover such changes as come within the scope of the claims;

I claim as my invention:

1. In an ice rink floor, a plurality of floor sections, said sections each having depending side flanges, a flange of one section being in abutting relation to the flange of an adjacent section, a plurality of foundation walls extending transversely of said sections and adapted to support same, said foundation walls having transverse recesses for the reception ,of the dependent flanges of said sections, a tie-rod in the region of each recess for anchoring said floor'sections to said foundation walls, said tie-rods being attached at their upper ends to abutting flanges of adjacent floor sections and at their lower ends to said foundation walls.

2. Means for anchoring floor sections having depending abutting side flanges to foundation walls supporting said sections comprising: a bolt extending through abutting flanges, a tie-rod attached to said bolt, and means including a bracket on a foundation wall for attaching said tie-rod to said foundation wall.

3. Means for anchoring floor sections having depending abutting side flanges to foundation walls supporting said sections comprising: a bolt extending through abutting flanges, a tie-rod attached to said bolt, an apertured bracket mounted on a foundation wall, said rod having a threaded lower end extending through the aperture in said bracket, and a nut mounted on said tie-rod for anchoring said tie-rod to said bracket. 4. In an ice rink floor, a floor section comprising a flat floor sheet having'depending flanges at its sides, and a corrugated sheet secured to the under surface of said'floor sheet, said corrugated sheet having its side edges secured to the respective flanges of said floor sheet spaced below the under surface of said floors.

5. In an ice rink floor, a plurality offloor sections, said sections each having a top sheet terminating in depending side flanges, a flange of one section being in abutting relation to the flange of an adjacent section, a plurality of transverse beams for supporting said floor sections, said beams being spaced apart in the region of said flanges, and means for supporting said beams in the regions where they are spaced apart.

6. In an ice rink floor, a plurality of floor sections, said sections each having a top sheet terminating in depending side flanges, a flange of one section being in abutting relation to the flange of an adjacent section, a plurality of transverse beams for supporting said floor sections, said beams being spaced apart in the region of said flanges, an adjustable member for supporting said beams at each region where said beams are spaced apart, said member being designed to support the ends of adjacent but spaced beams, and means for anchoring said floor sections to-said supporting members.

7. In an ice rink floor, a plurality of floor sections, said sections each having a top sheet terminating in depending side flanges, a flange of one section being in abutting relation to the flange of an adjacent section, a plurality of transverse beams for supporting said floor sections, said beams being spaced apart in the region of said flanges, an adjustablemember for supporting adjacent but spaced beams at each region where said spaced points occur, said mem- 

